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Weaker Bones Linked to Cannabis Use
Research conducted at the University of Edinburgh has found a link between cannabis use and bone mass density. More specifically, the findings, recently published in the American Journal of Medicine, report that frequent cannabis users are...
Smoking and Depression: What's the Relationship?
Almost 20% of American adults smoke cigarettes. Those diagnosed as having a moderate mental health problem are approximately twice as likely to smoke, whereas for those diagnosed as severely ill the risks are roughly three times greater...
Health Benefits from Stopping Smoking
Within as little as twenty minutes after your last cigarette your body begins to feel the effects of quitting. Health benefits from stopping smoking include, amongst other things, a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, better...
Expanding Drug Markets in Australia
Recently sixteen people were hospitalised on the Gold Coast, Australia, after taking a new synthetic drug known as Flakka. One of those taken ill is said to be in a critical condition. Flakka takes the form of a white/pink crystal-like...
Rescued from Hell: Life after the High
This photo story documents the lives of children at a rehabilitation centre in Delhi. The majority of young drug users in India's capital city are addicted to marijuana and heroin. Rajesh Kumar, Executive Director of the Society for...
Contingency Management and Drug Disorders
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) defines contingency management as “a general behavioural intervention technique used in the treatment of drug dependence … designed to weaken drug use and strengthen...
Is There a Biological Link Between Anti-Depressants and the Effects of Alcohol on the Body?
The ‘self-medication hypothesis’ is commonly known to refer to a human behaviour which sees people with depression turn to alcohol as a way of coping. New research published in the journal Nature Communications has now discovered a...
Marijuana and Maternity: What Are the Effects?
Four US states currently allow r
ecreational marijuana use and twenty-four allow medical marijuana. However, little research has been carried out to uncover the drug’s effect on the development of human embryos if smoked or consumed in...
Call for Entries: Drawing Attention to Substance Use Disorders through the Use of Humour
This contest aims to create public awareness, especially among young people, and promote the direct involvement of the wider society in addressing addictions through the use of humour. The main topic of the contest is "Away from addictions...
Opioid Abuse Linked to Heroin Use
New research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors has found the likelihood of 18- to 34-year-old nonmedical prescription opioid users having a prescription opioid use disorder has increased between 2002 – 2014. More specifically...
Identifying At-Risk Personalities
A new substance abuse prevention programme called Preventure uses personality tests to identify children most at risk of indulging in harmful drug-taking behaviour. The traits it has identified amongst at-risk children include: sensation...
Adolescence, Alcoholism and Interventions
Substance abuse entails a whole host of social, physical and mental health problems. A recent overview published in the Journal of Adolescent Health evaluates the effectiveness of interventions focused on smoking, alcohol or combined drug...
Alcohol Use and Cognitive Harm
Around 88,000 Americans die from alcohol-related harm each year. The physical effects of alcohol abuse, including certain cancers, heart disease and liver disease, are well-known. There is also much evidence that suggests alcohol can have a...
Student Smokers in US at All-Time Low
Smoking, and the desire to smoke, cigarettes amongst high school students in the United States is currently at an all-time low, according to a recent article published in Preventing Chronic Disease. The study found that between 2012 – 2014...
E-Cigarettes and Passive Smoking: Is There a Risk?
E-cigarettes are becoming more and more popular. As such, many in the field of drug prevention and treatment are eager to uncover how they affect our health. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco. However, it has been found by researchers at...
This Is Your Brain on Opiates
Prescription drug abuse has become a major public health and safety concern. Research has shown that legal drugs, such as OxyContin, now kill more people than illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Nowadays, people are constantly being...
Family Voices Competition
Have you been affected by someone else's drug or alcohol use? Would you like to be able to tell your story? Adfam's Family Voices Competition allows friends and family members who have lived through someone else’s substance use to express...
USA and Europe: Drug Use Compared
This month saw the release of the findings from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). The publication shows the country-by-country results for the use of various legal and illegal drugs. Thirty-five European...
Social Inequality and Marijuana Use
Are the poor smoking more? An article published recently in the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy sets out to answer just that. It explores the link between teenage marijuana use and income inequality in the national contexts...
Adieu to Stereotypes? Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption in France
If you were asked to provide a list of things we most associate with French cultural identity, wine and cigarettes would probably feature. A recent survey, however, suggests that, as is generally the case across Europe, alcohol and tobacco...
